How many radio stations can say a musical genre was born on its airwaves? On a Saturday night in December 1945, bluegrass music as we know it today began when a twenty-one-year old young man by the name of Earl Scruggs stepped up to the WSM microphone on the Ryman Auditorium stage to play the five-string banjo with a three-finger roll as part of Bill Monroe’s band. This was the final ingredient in a sound that also included guitarist/lead singer Lester Flatt, fiddler Chubby Wise, and bass player Cedric Rainwater, and of course the Father of Bluegrass, Monroe, himself. Listeners can still hear the sounds of Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys on 650 AM WSM.
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If you love great acoustic music, a visit to Nashville’s storied Station Inn is a must. And if you love the Station Inn, you simply have to tune in to “Station Inn Sessions.” |
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Each month, WSM takes bluegrass fans 333 feet underground at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tennessee for perhaps the most unique sound on radio or online. Tune in to the Bluegrass Underground Rewind on Saturdays, 5pm - 6pm. |
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Sunday, 9pm - 12am. Hosted by Nashville's four-time IBMA Broadcaster of the Year Terry Herd. |
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Tuesday, 2pm - 3pm. WSM radio is truly one-of-a-kind radio. No other station in the world brings in a different celebrity guest every Tuesday (and Thursday) to play some of their own hits as well as some of their all-time favorites. |
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Thursday, 2pm - 3pm. WSM radio is truly one-of-a-kind radio. No other station in the world brings in a different celebrity guest every Thursday (and Tuesday) to play some of their own hits as well as some of their all-time favorites. |
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Beginning just a few weeks after WSM first hit the airwaves in 1925, the Grand Ole Opry is not only the show that made country music famous, it’s the most famous show in country music. |
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The Golden Era Of The Grand Ole Opry Saturday, following the Grand Ole Opry. The Golden Era spins pure gold. |